This is the Blog for MORRIS BERMAN, the author of "Dark Ages America". It includes current publications and random thoughts about U.S. Foreign Policy, including letters and reactions to publications from others. A cultural historian and social critic, MORRIS BERMAN is the author of "Wandering God" and "The Twilight of American Culture". Since 2003 he has been a visiting professor in sociology at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Feel free to write and participate.
November 12, 2022
Muddy Waters
Well, at this point, it looks like the GOP will have the House, and the Dems will have the Senate. We may not know until the Georgia runoff on Dec. 6. But hopefully, if the GOP has the house, they might stop the fueling of the war in the Ukraine. These times are pretty murky; no one seems to be sure of anything. All I can do, myself, is throw up my hands and cry KAMALA SCHMAMALA!
On the topic of war.
ReplyDeleteI remember all the horseshit that was being peddled in popular media in 2003. If you weren't for the war, you were AGAINST THE TROOPS. As far as the stupid American public was concerned, your patriotic duty was to support indiscriminate bombing of the Middle East. Saddam and Bin Laden were essentially the same person.
Here's a knuckle-dragging country artist laughing at the notion of America bombing the shit out of civilians in Afghanistan:
https://youtu.be/zCDSdxO9MNo
Guess it didn't quite turn out the way he thought.
What a scumbag.
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteIt seems Wokism will continue to muddy the waters as Dems will find it increasingly difficult to govern with Repubs having a slim lead in Congress and perhaps in the senate as well. Prof. Peter Boghossian has written an insightful column linked below that analyzes how Wokeness takes familiar words and fills them with new ideological content.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/11/08/how-woke-language-distorts-the-world/
Exceprts: "Australian documentary maker Mike Nayna refers to woke language manipulation as ‘discourse engineering’. The wokerati think of it as a type of word magic and believe they can force change by controlling the meanings of words. Think of anti-racism, belonging, decolonisation, gender-affirmation surgery, white fragility, etc. But they lose control once those terms are translated. If you introduce a term into a foreign language, you need to define it. And once you define it, and therefore provide the woke meaning, you give the game away."
Himanshu
Himan-
ReplyDeleteA larger collection of shmucks than the woke community, I have yet to see. In the Twilight bk, I give a portrait of such an institution, wh/I called 'Alt U', that I spent 2 yrs associated with. It was valuable, in that the place embodied all of America's neuroses in microcosm; so I learned a lot. But the people--ay, don't get me started. They shd have called the place "Stupidity on Steroids."
Xen-
Oh yes, I remember Toby Keith from 2003. One of the greatest assholes America has produced. And yes, most Americans were gung-ho for that stupid, dishonest war. The Fool Index is reaching asymptotic proportions.
mb
Saventes-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. 1st, you need to send messages to most recent post; no one reads the old stuff. 2nd, you provided not a single link or reference--a major no-no on this blog.
mb
Sav-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. We have a half-pg-max rule on this blog. Pls edit down accordingly and re-send. Thank you.
mb
They don’t need guns here in N.Y. The violent folks have knives which are just as good.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/commuter-knifed-in-chest-at-bronx-station-attacker-in-custody-police
Construction workers shouldn’t take their tools to work.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/man-slashes-commuters-face-while-stealing-tools-in-manh
A warning, Doctor. If someone doesn’t like the same music you like, you may get stabbed. It’s best that you be on your guard and not play anything if you have the next Wafer meeting up here in the suburbs.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/long-island-man-stabs-31-year-old-roommate-during-dispute
Or if it’s in the city at an eatery, don’t question or argue with the waiter over the bill if you think it’s incorrect. It’s another way to get stabbed.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/cops-searching-for-woman-who-stabbed-loudmouth-at-steakhouse
Violence: Part and parcel of a 246 year old, dog eat dog culture slowly disintegrating.
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Xen-
ReplyDeletePls post no more than once every 24 hrs. Thank you.
mb
Much as I'd like to believe those kind and gentle peace-mongers in the GOP will end the MIC bonanza that is the US/Russia proxy war in Ukraine, one Leonard C. Goodman, writing for Counterpunch, explains all too soberly why that won't happen:
ReplyDelete'Will the US War-for-Profit System Lead to Nuclear Annihilation?'
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/11/11/will-the-us-war-for-profit-system-lead-to-nuclear-annihilation/
No, as the US empire makes a last wobble through the imperial burnout belt and stumbles toward the grave, it remain all too likely to drag the rest of the planet with it. Sometimes I recall that odd Hunter S. Thompson quote, from shortly before he'd seen enough and checked out: "Big Darkness, Soon Come". Was that a vision purely of his own looming suicide, or about where this whole shit-show of a country he'd been writing about his entire life was heading?
Reading the title this is the first thing that came to mind
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/c0_eRVroLqs
Something no less disturbing yet not on the political scene caught my attention lately, there is a literal war between genders in the US. I don't know how this applies to the decline, but a simple search on men right activists and feminists wishing a male genocide will show you the grim reality. Dr Berman often talks about the negative identity syndrome of the US, I believe it applies to every bit of reality in America, everything in America is painted white and black, even within a family or between friends (if there is such a thing in the US). This negative identity is a building blocks of the American psyche, socially and individually.
Dr. bree-
ReplyDeleteCheck out discussion of negative identity in QOV, maybe. Manichaean thought is for simpletons, and we are a (very) simple people.
mb
Dr. B:
ReplyDeleteBreaking...Tulsi just finished a workout and wanted to let us know that she's hosting Tucker Carlson Tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern-
https://youtu.be/2WBy1-T-pC0
Note her "Sons of Liberty" T-shirt.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the GOP will have the House, and the Dems will have the Senate. What that means, in terms of the war in the Ukraine, along w/anything else, is unclear. It seems like we have drifted into a stagnant interregnum. Treading water. All dressed up and no place to go. In all honesty, the single most representative person of the US today is Kamala, when you think abt it. In my mind's eye, when I think of her face, it has a large question mark imposed on it. Meanwhile, Trumpi's image, and his influence, seems to be fading; he may not be the GOP candidate in 2024. But I stick to my basic prediction: the end of America by 2030. Turkeyville, in short.
mb
ps: But this is where Americans need to put their attention:
ReplyDeletehttps://pagesix.com/2022/11/14/gisele-bundchen-joaquim-valente-enjoy-costa-rica-dinner-date-photos/
I just can't resist a good take-down of Barack Obama, so here's a take-down of him down over his recent voter shaming:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE0H0keZZGM
Could this jackass be more condescending than he is in this "lecture" he's giving to black voters in Georgia? And people wonder why I think Obama is a punk.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteWorse than a punk; a war criminal and a piece of trash. And millions of Americans think he's hotter than canned tuna.
Meanwhile, remember that Hilary said the future was female. I agree, and think that we are entering the future with these powerful, brilliant women at the helm:
Gisele Bundchen
Tulsi Schmulsi
Kamala Schmamala
Liz Truss
Sara Palin
Boebert, Greene
and above all:
https://www.ladbible.com/news/patrisse-cullors-net-worth-20220524
The future is bright!
mb
The unsurprising winner of the midterm elections turns out to be the War Party:
ReplyDeletehttps://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/11/14/arms-makers-win-big-after-stacking-the-deck-with-military-industrial-candidates/
With "defense" (ha) spending barreling towards a trillion per year (more than 2/3 of domestic discretionary budget) seems it won't be long before the MIC gobbles up the entire pie and Uncle Sam has not a nickel for anything but war. As it stands the GOP is frantic to chop into Social Security and Medicare in order to open up the non-discretionary budget to confiscation by the war machine as well. Imperial decline and ruinous war spending: a very common pairing.
A Trillion-Dollar Defense Budget?
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/a-trillion-dollar-defense-budget/
Republicans, Eyeing Majority, Float Changes to Social Security and Medicare:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/us/politics/republicans-social-security-medicare.html
Dr. Shit-
ReplyDeletePor favor, amigo; you know we're not a bulletin board.
Pol-
Nothing like watching the nation commit suicide, eh?
mb
@Russina Spy, I find myself going to this Hunter Thompson quote whenever I’m mixed up over our ongoing slide into fascism (in other words allot):
ReplyDelete“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.”
Gunnar-
ReplyDeleteNeed a link, and some discussion. We're not a bulletin board. Thanks.
mb
This one will definitely NOT sit well with the general population, but I DO think it's a topic worth discussing.
ReplyDeleteSummary: Women entering the workforce resulted in women adopting the WORST traits of men. Psychopathy and Narcissism, to be clear. Birthrates have COLLAPSED.
https://youtu.be/M8z5d5NvZSk
One of the things I appreciate about Dr. Vaknin is the same thing I appreciate in your writings, Dr. Berman. His foundation was in a hard science (physics). Likewise, I think your background in mathematics is a big part of your strength for the art of argument.
We've mentioned "Death Oriented Values" once or twice on this blog. If a society's reproduction rate drops as precipitously as America's has, what other conclusion can one come to other than "Death Orientation"?
Xen-
ReplyDeleteRemember Joe Friday on "Dragnet"? "Just the facts, ma'am."
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteShd I shut down the blog and go fishing? I have the feeling that we are in for a very boring 2 yrs now; that America is going nowhere fast. The GOP have the House, wh/means that they'll spend all their time attacking Schmiden plus blocking any progressive legislation that he might propose. He's a true lame duck, in other words, and the Republicans have no interest in doing anything intelligent. I'm guessing it'll be ho-hum till Nov. 2024. What do you guys think?
mb
ps: Shit like this will be 'news' for the next 2 yrs:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/17/michelle-obama-black-hair-braids/?itid=hp_latest-headlines_p003_f007
Yes, let's focus on Michelle Obama's hair.
Dr. Berman, if you go fishing you will not miss much in terms of government antics as it seems there will be a stalemate.
ReplyDeleteGiven the widespread financial bs that likely occurred with crypto, there’s going to be some serious symptoms of decline exposed. Check out this winner for example: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy
What a douche. The number of people I know who got into crypto yet had no idea and no money to lose to what was obviously a get richer quicker scheme is fairly high.
Go fishing MB. The US Olympic Committee doesn't know what colors are on the flag:
ReplyDeletehttps://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e086f45d8187fade0fa6820dfbba6eb899d327a1/0_116_3500_2101/master/3500.jpg?width=620&quality=85&dpr=1&s=none
Gay blowback (har har har) for the right wing black flags and blue flags that popped up a number of years ago?
I saw a "furry" at the Safeway yesterday in AStoria, Oregon. Dude was in a chicken suit. Turkey being to highbrow for it, I guess.
Correction - this is for the men's national team for world cup football
ReplyDeleteLast night I heard a news story claiming that a Russian missile hit Poland. Right away I had a gut feeling that the missile was Ukrainian, not Russian.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was right. The missile was Ukrainian. Of course, the Times is pushing the story that while the missile was Ukrainian, it's still the fault of Russia that the thing came down in Poland:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/world/europe/ukraine-russia-poland-explosion.html
How childish. I guess Russia and Putin are to blame for just about everything that's wrong with the world. Not that I would expect anything better from the "newspaper of record." I'm sure the Russiagaters who read the times (which I suspect is all of them, to a good approximation) will lap it up.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/17/politics/house-republicans-white-house-hunter-biden/index.html
ReplyDeleteA good use of their time, and will certainly help the American people with food, rent, clothing, education, etc. But here's what I don't understand: Instead of all these investigations, why not just gun down Biden & Family in the street, like dogs? Much more efficient, I wd think.
mb
Heidi-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. We have a half-pg-max rule on this blog. Pls compress by a third and re-send. Thanks.
Wafers-
What does the political landscape look like, for the next 2 years? Excepting the (slim?) possibility that the House will cut off funds to the Ukraine, and end this stupid war, the project between now and Nov. 2024 is what I call VBO: Vigorous Beating Off. You can be sure that that's what our august legislators will be doing. Many might say it's the one thing they can do well.
mb
ps: I'm also wondering if our universities will now allow the assigning of Dostoevsky, and if Russian restaurants in the US will revert "Beef Zelensky" back to Beef Stroganoff. (This country is breathtakingly stupid.)
ReplyDeleteps2: speaking of VBO:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/nov/17/bernie-sanders-book-political-revolution-its-ok-to-be-angry-about-capitalism
American Youth:
ReplyDeletehttp://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/12/justice/maryland-teens-assault-autistic-boy/index.html?dicbo=v2-4b1301753aebac6ce654f60d4fdd701c&iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial
Ain't they grand?
A not impossible scenario is that in 2025 or 26, Kamala becomes president.
ReplyDeleteHare krishna
Hare krishna
Krishna krishna
Hare hare.
Hare rama...
Kamala Schmamala
Kamala Schmamala
Schmamala Schmamala
Kamala Kamala
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteKey evangelicals turn on Trump:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-evangelicals-2024_n_637732cbe4b08013a8b525cf
They say "he used us".
I would pay to watch a slugfest between the evangelicals (and their hordes) and trumpites (bubbas) with the wokes as the referees ensuring PC language is used. Then they all turn on each other. I encourage you and others to add more twists and details to this plot.
Himanshu
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMB, Wafers-
In honor of Kamala Schmamala's possible presidential run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EORbL8N-R8
Miles
ps: Para Brahma
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteA great song, thanks. But I'm still trying to figure out whether Kamala is a bag of rancid douche fluid, or a rancid bag of douche fluid.
Himan-
Hopefully it will involve a bit of vomit.
mb
Presidentess Kamala could be interesting - she might strap on a suicide vest and attack the White House.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a boring next couple of years go - watching the US become irrelevant internationally is kinda fun. I wonder what weak sister nation gets thrown against the wall to assert The US' new status as regional power? Haiti maybe?
America, schmerica. The real action continues with Russia vs Combined West. Here's the daily "clobber list"
https://t.me/mod_russia_en
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't post Unknowns.
comrade-
I'm rootin' for Kamala. The idea of the collapse of America being presided over by a moron tickles me no end. Think of all the demonstrators showing up at her 'speeches' (there's a joke for ya) with large banner signs that say, quite simply, SHIT FOR BRAINS.
mb
ps: I wd literally give my left arm to see the following scenario take place at any time w/in the next few years:
ReplyDeleteLADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, KAMALA SCHMAMALA!
(Wild applause)
Kamala: "I just want to say, for those of you who are listening, which means you are also hearing this, probably, that what I am saying can be regarded as said."
(Audience goes bananas; many lose control of their urine. The next day, the NYT praises the president for her "cutting-edge insights.")
Big Picture:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.noemamag.com/the-clash-of-civilizational-states/
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy
ReplyDeleteI read the above article and saw the reactions on Twitter. People online were treating him as an aberration. But in light of Dr. Berman's views of America, Sam Bankman-Fried seemed archetypically American.
A messianic attitude or persona with respect to tech
A facade of higher values that are only revealed to be hollow and about winning/hustling
A product or service that really seems to involve little more than a get rich quick scheme
And a crash when the hollow foundation collapses in on itself.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMB, Wafers-
This essay by Michael Robbins is worth the read. I hope you guys can access it:
https://harpers.org/archive/2022/12/apocalypse-nowish/
A possible view of the other side of the collapse. Turns out that Robbins is a poet, and the son of a 1960s-era hippie mother, who gave him a sense of how to create a different way of living in a dying society. Perhaps it's time to put some of the useful lessons of the Counterculture to work for us to survive what looks like a pretty apocalyptic future, and create and live in a healthier way.
Miles
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteCheck this out:
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Avram-Alpert/dp/0691204357/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_es_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1C2M9Q4TFU7B9&keywords=good+enough+society&qid=1668885883&s=books&sprefix=good+enough+society%2Cstripbooks%2C144&sr=1-2
Gunnar-
I dunno whom u.r. referring to, but that aside, once again, we are a discussion forum, not a bulletin board. Word to the wise, eh?
Bud-
Most Americans need to be slapped. Unfortunately, it won't do any gd.
mb
https://people.com/style/jenna-bush-hager-admits-she-never-wears-underwear/
ReplyDeleteJenna Bush Hager is my current nominee for inclusion on our fine list of baguettes & buffoonettes that already includes: Bundchen, Schmulsi, Schmamala, Truss, Palin, Boebert, Greene, and Cullor.
Ah yes! Jenna’s Bush. You go girl! Showing us the advantages of going Full Kramer. It be so. Talk about cutting edge! Hey, I’d even consider adding Hoda Kotb, Jenna’s co-host on the Today Show (NBC), to our list. Hager Schmager & Hoda Schmoda!
Some context:
Jerry Seinfeld: “The only thing between him and us is a thin layer of gabardine... Kramer, say it isn't so.”
Kramer: “Oh, it be so. I'm out there, Jerry, and I'm lovin' every minute of it.”
— Seinfeld, Season 6: “The Chinese Woman”
ReplyDeleteDoctor,
Here’s a great way for USAins in the future to blow each other away. Can you picture this: Representing the 14th Congressional District of Illinois, U.S. House of Representative Kyle Rittenhouse? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ya gotta love it! This is downright hilarious. Now we can have another doofus elected to the GOP. Imagine him next to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert parading around guns in the halls of Congress as they co-sponsor their new AR15 gun bill—“The Vigilante Freedom Act”.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/kyle-rittenhouse-predicts-on-twitter-his-political-career/
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3741099-kyle-rittenhouse-meets-with-house-gop-members/
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/kyle-rittenhouse-political-aspirations-gop-members
This country is in great hands!
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Ro-
ReplyDeleteMany, many Americans provoke a gag response.
mb
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't post Unknowns. If you want to participate in this discussion, you need a real handle. For example, I. Reject Schmiden.
mb
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/20/us/colorado-springs-shooting-gay-nightclub/index.html
ReplyDeleteGee, another massacre? How cd that be?!
US Drug Enforcement Agency(DEA) in this report shows that DEA Agents used sting money to pursue lavish lifestyles and launder it for personal gain. Seems like he is just a small fish that got caught.
ReplyDeletehttps://apnews.com/article/soccer-sports-la-liga-money-laundering-puerto-rico-38aed2da8cd0ac237aca28aa39321105
This is where our tax dollars go. We could be housing/feeding people in need. But no, lets make drugs illegal. Then we can support a legal system that oppresses everyone.
If Republicans are successful in securing both the House and Senate, maybe that Ukraine war money will stop flowing. I guess we can all celebrate Trumpi's return to Twitter and hope his re-election brings about a swift end to Americas destructive wars once and for all!
I suggest having a life raft if you're still in it.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteHistorian Staughton Lynd has died:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/us/staughton-lynd-dead.html
No hope dept.:
https://ktla.com/news/elderly-couple-brutally-attacked-after-elton-john-concert-in-l-a/
If you can't leave an Elton John concert in a state of peace, then you are a DOUCHE BAG!
Miles
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteHard to believe these people were attacked, since love is the motor of American society.
Krak-
Hard to believe that DEA corruption, since honesty is the touchstone of American democracy.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteAt this pt, the disintegration of America is so predictable, it seems rather boring. OK, so I won't go fishing. But perhaps we shd change the topic of this blog to something completely different, and let the collapse of the US take care of itself; which it seems to be doing anyway. I invite you guys to suggest alternative topics. For example, Jewish deli foods. Or maybe the life of Mickey Mantle. Or Mickey Mouse. Or C.W. Leadbeater. You decide.
mb
At this point I think it is becoming clear how corrupt the US is. The level of denial required is not mentally sustainable. I am not surprised, partly due to this blog. Most Americans remain totally unaware. Too busy catching up on reruns of the Kardashians I guess.
ReplyDeleteFor example:
https://theweek.com/supreme-court/1018611/whistleblower-alleges-landmark-supreme-court-case-was-leaked-years-prior-to
There has been a revolving door of personnel, friendships, and funding that has gone on without journalistic scrutiny for 3 decades between government and wealthy lobbyists or foundations. Why wouldn’t a member of the Supreme Court tell a friend at a conservative group they belong to the decision before the public? Why wouldn’t a congressman make a vote friendly to the industry that funds his/her campaign? There is no enforcement of these sort of white collar crimes by epic douche bags and baguettes.
Posting lighthearted mockery of americans doing stupid things is still okay for awhile. Real critique is gonna getcha in trouble another rung or two down the oppressive ladder of fascism. Ya might wanna call off the Wafer Summit in NYC... be a shame to see a deli wrecked by jackboots smashing their way to your table to drag you away.
ReplyDeleteBut, if really want to head into the great unknown let's focus on Kamala. What could better represent the mindset of america?
The teeth on that woman - scary stuff, man.
Flab-
ReplyDeleteThat America is corrupt down to its socks is a foregone conclusion. Yrs ago, Paul Fussell said everything in the country was coated w/a thin layer of fraud, and Ronald Dworkin wrote that there was not a single institution in the country that was not tainted w/corruption. These guys weren't exactly hippies or left-wingers. And w/a gullible public that has shit for brains, you can get away w/virtually anything.
The war in the Ukraine is a case in pt. Consider the online interviews w/folks like Noam Chomsky, Douglas Macgregor, Ed Curtin, Scott Ritter, John Mearsheimer, Jeffrey Sachs. They are marginalized; they have no voice. Even someone as savvy as Bill Maher has been taken in. There is no chance he wd host any one of these critics on his show.
At some pt, the nation turned into a toxic dump.
mb
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/20/world-still-on-brink-of-climate-catastrophe-after-cop27-deal
ReplyDeleteWhy do all of these environmental summits amount to warm dog poop? Because they never include provisions for enforcement--penalties backed by armies. Paris conference of 2015 was a joke; like Cop27, an exercise in beating off. As far as the environment is concerned, we will beat off until we incinerate ourselves.
"We would rather be ruined than changed"--W.H. Auden
mb
MB: In reply to your climate summit link, here is John Gray's take in essay. I take climate precarity v seriously, but it's always a laughable affair when these talks commence. It seems that thru a technicality the US considers China a developing nation while it simultaneously also recognizes China as tied w/ itself (or #1!) in its levels of polluting. So China might receive payments from developed countries for environmental damages as a developing nation... such a farce!
ReplyDelete“None of the delegates confronted the fact that abrupt climate change has become unstoppable. Global heating can, in principle, still be slowed, but geopolitical conflicts and escalating risks of war will limit coordinated action by the world’s major powers. Even if existing commitments to curb greenhouse gases by 2030 were delivered there would be a rise in global heating of around 2.5°C, a level that ensures severe climate turbulence. The UN environment agency finds “no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place”. The only way forward now is through a “rapid transformation of societies”.
The dangerous conceits of the green revolution
The climate emergency requires serious politics – not bourgeois protests that block traffic and vandalise works of art.
By John Gray
https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/11/john-gray-dangerous-conceits-green-revolution
Kimmie-
ReplyDeleteThere's a paywall, so I cdn't read it. Maybe u cd elaborate on what he says. My own take is that these environmental summits are toothless, and thus exercises in VBO (Vigorous Beating Off).
mb
MB, if you want to bypass a paywall, here are two options:
ReplyDelete1. spaywall.com
2. Google Cache
https://www.spaywall.com/search/https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/11/john-gray-dangerous-conceits-green-revolution
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/11/john-gray-dangerous-conceits-green-revolution
A wonder if Mr. Putin made the association with american turkeys at yesterdays videoconference
ReplyDelete"Vladimir Putin took part in the launch of a turkey breeding center in the Tyumen Region via videoconference."
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69901
It's in russian, but since the war started I've been using yandex browser that auto translates well. As a bonus it's been nice to get news other than mindless western propaganda.
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks! Never knew these existed. I just read the John Gray article using spaywall.com.
So what I want to say is, first, I'm glad to see that Greta agrees w/me that these environmental summits are exercises in beating off. Their goal is to look like nations are doing something when in fact they aren't. Cop27 shd more correctly be called Cop Out. 2nd, I'm a bit skeptical of Gray's argument, in wh/he claims that hi-tech is the answer. Historically, the US has used technology as a way to avoid radical political change--wh/I suspect is the *real* answer. Things like de-growth, for example.
mb
comrade-
ReplyDeleteFor sure, America is the world's greatest turkey-breeding center. Every day, OB-GYN wards are turning out thousands of little future turkeys and buffoons. As for American 'news': it's pure bullshit. Check out interviews w/John Pilger and Douglas Macgregor on the subject of our propaganda re: the war in the Ukraine. The NYT is a joke.
mb
The Ukraine War can be best explained by an episode in the TV series Mad Men, one of pop culture's most prescient deconstructions of American ideology, psyche and obsession with outward appearance.
ReplyDeleteThe protagonist, played by Jon Hamm, famously said "If you don't like what they're saying, change the conversation". The context is that his advertising agency has just been endangered after being dropped by its biggest client, a cigarette company. His ingenious solution is to take out an ad in the New York Times in which he claims the agency was taking a moral stand against the tobacco industry. The firm's founder, played by Robert Morse, rails against his hypocrisy and brazen dishonesty, but ultimately the stunt works and the agency survives.
Why go into all this? Well, suffice to say nobody today is talking about Biden [or the US Military as a whole] withdrawing from Afghanistan. There are even glowing peans to the Ukraine war in, among other outlets, the New York Times!
I was looking for a forum by an Audio Engineer by the name of Steve Hoffman, & happened upon an unrelated site by a similarly named guy. It caught my attention due to its laughable, yet lofty mission statement.
ReplyDelete"My mission is to unite Americans around our common goals and shared beliefs in building a better future. Only if we believe we can make a difference, can we implement profound change in our society and reach our full potential."
This guy is obviously blind to the conditions which makes such "profound change" impossible. History is littered with failed empires and the Amerikkkan experiment has had its time in the sun. Here's the link if you wanna read the rest of this pablum.
https://www.stevehoffman.org/
Satchmo-
ReplyDeleteThis guy needs a good beating (plus urine).
mb
moresoma-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. You provided no links, no references. Are you unaware of how this blog works?
mb
Dr., The path without heart is draining for many Americans and they are headed your way:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/11/inverse-migration-why-are-so-americans-moving-to-mexico.html
It should not be a surprise. And The author manages to side “beating off” inadvertently into the article.
I can relate.
Flab-
ReplyDeleteThey come down here, they bring their gringo values w/them, and they fuck up the country.
mb
Hot off the ticker. From an alternative nightclub in Colorado to a more mundane USAin locus of capitalistic /consumer spending in Virginia, a Walmart:
ReplyDeletehttps://apnews.com/article/shootings-virginia-b52927596381aa65efed367ce0c81c83?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_01
And the violence rolls along in this no-good “exceptional” f*cking shithole of a country.
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Himan-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it (too long).
mb
Dr B,
ReplyDeleteI got around to listening to your interview on the Doomer Optimism podcast. Greak chat as always, full of your tradmark wittiness. Isn't it funny how these dipshit university students wanna boycott Dostoyevsky & all other things Russian, when Amerikka has a far bloodier history? Amerikkka is responsible for:
Nuking the Japanese to kingdom come
Wiping out most of the Indian population & tossing the rest onto reservations
Kidnapping & enslaving Africans, as well as treating their descendants like shit
Guantanamo Bay
If u ask me, I think the world should be boycotting Amerikkka instead
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteHopefully this fits in 0.5 page: My exchange in Nov 2015 with author Kent Nerburn (who has written excellent books about Native America or First nations people) about the US Thanksgiving holiday:
https://kentnerburn.com/an-interesting-exchange-about-thanksgiving/?fbclid=IwAR3mDdvbpHG3Vo8D7C0QoenWhtzTCdIHG7w2BSI6W_nYE1PJFmDQCpXovWc
I discussed the above exchange with a friend (JR) as follows:
JR:what are you all doing for thanksgiving?
Me:staying home.Having some friends over the weekend. We don't celebrate TG like much of the wider culture.
JR:it is rather a celebration of colonialism isn't it? and genocide
Me: yes. some years ago I wrote to Kent Nerburn abt TG
JR: It is rather depressing. You know what would happen if we tried to talk about the realities of thanksgiving and what it celebrates
Me: and that is why US is such a restless/manic society: It has not come to terms with its cruel history (like Germany has)
JR: true. Me:inspite of all the wealth (mostly junk wealth) so many are depressed and are on meds.As a culture we always seem to be running away from something....not an iota of self-reflection or transparency.
Himanshu
Flying-
ReplyDeleteWell, in these days a sense of humor is obligatory. Looking upon American politics, society, culture and whatever else, it's all not merely (bad) theater, or utter frivolity; it's also downright silly, in a morbid or noir sorta way. For example, most American university students can't find France on a world map, think Russia was our enemy in WW2, and believe that political correctness is the key to social change.
Re: Japan: this was, or became, Std Operating Procedure. Force the 'enemy' into a corner (usually, economically), at wh/pt war is their only option; then when they respond militarily, call it a 'day of infamy' (truth: this was what FDR needed to get America into WW2); the (created) enemy is Satan; put Japanese-Americans into detention camps; and then nuke Hiroshima, whose population was 98% civilian and had 0 to do w/Pearl Harbor. Now *that* is infamy! (See Chomsky's discussion of the war on Japan for more details--nature of the economic squeeze etc.)
As for the Indians: on Thanksgiving we celebrate the slaughter of practically an entire native population. A population that was wise/sensitive in an environmental and social way. And who replaced them? Across the country, tomorrow, millions of bloated buffoons will eat themselves into a coma, then sit in front of the TV and watch football while drinking beer. Yes, a superior civilization, to be sure. (Don't let me vomit.)
As for boycotting America: I do think the rest of the world understands what the US is up to, even tho most of it can't say it out loud. (In a word, trash)
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of a sense of humor and morbid noir:
https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/im-sorry-i-let-my-son-down-father-of-accused-colorado-club-shooter-speaks-out/509-6c4ad66e-35ef-41a5-9255-bca31cea3a73
The Club Q shooter's father, Aaron Brink, is an UFC fighter and porn actor, who goes by the name Dick Delaware:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Brink
The Real Miles Deli (RMD)
Himan-
ReplyDeleteAmerica before and after the genocide:
Before: sleek, intelligent Native Americans living close to the land.
After: bloated, moronic buffoons sitting in front of the TV drinking beer.
Americans call this progress.
mb
Speaking of trash:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/23/kanye-west-explicit-photos-adidas-ye-employees
It's amazing how America, in its late-empire phase, spews forth people like this. Kanye, Greene, Boebert, Trumpi, Palin, Kamala, Giuliani...we are pretty much a collection of garbage. So much to be thankful for in 2022.
This is what we do to people:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.spaywall.com/search/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/us/jails-deaths.html
Dr. Berman, I accessed the article by 1st copying The NY Times url and putting it in the spay wall site on my own. Otherwise I couldn’t pull it up w/ yr link. FYI. So I admire how Shaila Dewan meticulously documents a pattern of abuse by police against youth, pregnant women, and people who suffer from mental illness. It reiterates what you’ve stressed with your micro/macro theory. Here, ie., we KNOW there’s connection between police power and state violence: what we have ALWAYS done to others (macro) we do to ourselves (micro). Otherwise these processes go unexamined and we remain hopelessly in the dark trying to wade through the morass of how and why the police will continue to operate within this quagmire of socio-historical forces. I might add that altho tasers aren’t mentioned in Dewan’s article, the UN Committee Against Torture declared that they are a form of torture. Dumb-ass Americans call it “pain compliance.” That’s just one paradigm of how the American experiment has been allowed to continue unabated: pain compliance.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-tasers-are-a-form-of-torture/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-taser-un-exclusive/exclusive-u-n-watchdogs-call-for-probe-of-taser-assaults-in-u-s-jails-idUSKBN1E12GR
Ro-
ReplyDeleteBloated, self-destructive buffoons are generally not known for their astute political analysis. The US will continue to be the US.
mb
Himanshu posted this link about his 2015 Thanksgiving letter to Kent Nerburn, which I looked thru...
ReplyDeletehttps://kentnerburn.com/an-interesting-exchange-about-thanksgiving/?fbclid=IwAR3mDdvbpHG3Vo8D7C0QoenWhtzTCdIHG7w2BSI6W_nYE1PJFmDQCpXovWc
Nerburn says he disassociates the holiday from its true origins, and saw it as a day to "celebrate family". The comments yielded similar sentiments, with some also claiming to "give back" all yr 'round. Apparently most folks only PRETEND to give a shit about family/others during the holidays, then it's business as usual. I'll bet that around 1% actually call up or visit relatives/friends before this time.
Whether or not the commenters actually practice those things is anyone's guess. But I often find that ppl will pay lip service to certain ideals when they're put on the spot. AMERIKKKANS AREN'T THANKFUL FOR JACK SHIT.
On a final note, I did however find this gem in the comments that's the epitome of Amerikkka.--"Consumerism and specator sports have become the "religion" of our country/culture."
Squirrel-
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is just one more example of the country beating off (in this case with stuffing).
mb
ps: In honor of Thanksgiving, I have composed a small poem:
ReplyDeleteWhen buffoons are bloated
Our stupidity is noted.
OK, Keats it ain't.
ps2:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-11-22/op-ed-its-time-to-rethink-thanksgiving
Critic-
ReplyDeleteI think you may have written to the wrong blog. We are not focused on Alice Miller. I think we may have mentioned her briefly 10 yrs ago or so. Our focus is the collapse of the American empire. If you have anything to say on that subject, pls feel free to contribute. Thank you.
mb
Dr. B and everyone
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you if you don't mind. Maybe this analogy could sum up everything in a nutshell. Could life be considered like a play and everyone is playing a part and the problem with the American empire is everyone is playing a part in a crappy play with a crappy script?
How and Why the US Cannot Recover: Is It a Failed State?"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Ds1h_WMpQ
Time stamp 16:11 "What the United States Economy has done that has made it a failed economy is that it's turned basic human rights, basic needs like shelter, land ownership, a home, medical care, pensions, from human rights into financial commodities to make money off of. This commodification is the key to neoliberalism and it's eroding the economy and destroying it."
According to this article, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/18/60percent-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-heading-into-2022-holiday.html
Basically, Americans have commodified everything to the point that money has become a weapon used to enslave Americans economically.
Meanwhile: The grotesque inequality embodied by Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg is a threat to democracy
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/18/the-grotesque-inequality-embodied-by-musk-bezos-and-zuckerberg-is-a-threat-to-democracy
Even if the US were to change today, which is probably very unlikely, it would still have to deal with the negative consequences of past actions and decisions. Some people may call it karma, I call it the law of cause of effect.
Talk about Cube's crappy scripts: Wafers everywhere will be pleased to know that Kanye West has announced his 2024 Presidential campaign:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63754702
For once, the BBC properly classifies this story as entertainment. US election campaigns fall into that category as theater. The big question for West's campaign is, will he attract more than the 70,000 buffoons who voted for the Clown Party last time? Can we hope that Evergreen College will start to plan to host a declinist presidential "debate" between Tulsi and West as part of its new political science curriculum, moderated by our on Great Seer of the Western Hemisphere?
Noura-
ReplyDeleteIt's also the Law of Buffoons. There's an episode in "The Sopranos" where Carmilla goes to Paris on holiday, and is stunned by the beauty of the city, its art, its sculptures. Suddenly, instead of living the life of a suburban housewife (to a mob boss), in wh/money and expensive objects is the sum total of her existence, she is exposed to a culture that is a real culture, with genuine, transcendent values. Of course she returns to New Jersey and resumes her degraded lifestyle; but at least she has a few days of enlightenment. What crap America amounts to, w/its commodification of everything.
Jack-
I'm in, no question abt it. At the Evergreen debate, I plan to read sections from the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," wh/shd boost Kanye's campaign.
mb
Bb-
ReplyDeleteWe try to be a discussion forum rather than a bulletin board. Perhaps you could re-send the link, adding a paragraph of your own commentary. Thank you.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteThis article is v. gd on critique, rather lame on solutions. Exhortation is rarely a vehicle for substantive social change. Author's recs consist of 'should' and 'must'. I look in vain for the word 'force'. See what you think.
https://www.tikkun.org/education-as-the-heart-of-the-struggle-for-america/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=88dd4bcb-da02-4c94-a736-acb565a54981
mb
Here's a case study into the general trashiness of Amerikkka. In 2013 a woman named Heather Elvis disappeared in South Carolina after getting involved with a married dude. It's unknown if she knew this beforehand, but things got interesting after the wife found out. She demanded that she end the relationship and would harass Heather. The couple was eventually arrested and charged with kidnapping & murder. Said charges were dropped due to no substantial evidence tying them to Heather's disappearance. From everything I've read about this case, no body was ever found.
ReplyDeletehttps://abc7.com/heather-elvis-case-abc-2020-tammy-moorer/10394818/
https://smokingtyger.medium.com/my-take-06-5e452822698a
ReplyDeleteAppropriate perspective for the American holiday weekend. Repeated my comment within the story below.
Indigenous genocide is a story so uncomfortably evil that it required the construction of alternative myths. Did Europeans (later Americans) not understand what they were doing? The historical record is crystal clear that they did.
The Joseph Smith tale reads like a modern graphic novel turned into a Marvel movie blockbuster. Yet here we are. Is it surprising today then a large portion of Americans believe conspiracy theories and are influenced by stories supporting myths that have no basis in reality? Not surprising at all, America has been perfecting it over centuries.
Shameful, duplicitous, and hypocritical mindset today, crimes against humanity when committed. Problem is most Americans do not care one bit, or even have the capacity to understand.
I read (or rather skimmed - Mr. Giroux never says something once if three times will do...) the education article and have the same question I always have: do these folks think this is new? Have they read John Taylor Gatto? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_Gatto)
ReplyDeleteGatto's basic thesis is that 'corporatized' education models are a) the result of preparing citizens for whatever the prevailing economic model is (at the start factory industrialization, now STEM laboratories in service to Big Tech) - nothing's changed here and b) consequently social engineering machines - not in any way mechanisms for developing critical thinking.
This is not new. It strikes me that Mr. Giroux isn't really critical of the model itself; he just wants his views to be those indoctrinated into the students.
Kev-
ReplyDeleteActually, I do think he is trying to take on, and even defeat, the Power Elite. I'll give him that. But otherwise, this is gd evidence for my argument about hi-IQ folks often being stupid. Manifestos and critiques and suggestions, no matter how brilliant, simply do not move power. Only power moves power, and educators, including Giroux, do not have it. There is a deep failure to understand how history actually works.
mb
Dr. B
ReplyDeleteYou said "Manifestos and critiques and suggestions, no matter how brilliant, simply do not move power. "
My impression is to make a long lasting change this is what would have to happen. Everyone at the same time including those who are in the Power Elite would have to reflect and realize that the script we're all working under is not that good. And, you would have to have a populace who could actually think through things and put it all together and realize at the same time we need to change who we are and what we are as a nation. But, I don't see that happening don't think and don't want to think. History never really reverses course on things.
In this video, John Stewart talks to two war criminals, Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, and allows them to lie repeatedly with no push-back at all:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xutIA4HzGqA
What happened to John Stewart? Has he fallen on his head? Well, it's nice to see some push-back on him through the comments on this video.
On the topic of Native American decimation.
ReplyDeleteWe destroyed a way of life that valued things like community, kindness, and care for one another.
Now? The American population is reaping what it has sown. The numbers regarding mental health in America are absolutely staggering. We flushed all our humanity down the toilet in the pursuit of building stupid trinkets, and now we're sitting around wondering why life is so unfulfilling.
Americans aren't capable of questioning WHY they're so miserable. To do so would mean questioning the base assumptions of American 'culture'.
To quote one of Dr. Berman's interviews: "Hey you're unhappy? Here's a cell phone!"
https://youtu.be/lUSh74wWVOQ
Xen-
ReplyDeleteReally, the only thing left to discuss is whether Americans are degraded, or debased. Wafers please weigh in on this important issue.
ccg-
See my reply to Xen.
mb
One of the bleakest essays I've ever read on the utter void America has become. This is the desperate reality behind Trumpolini's stubborn popularity despite the liberal class' unrelenting attacks for some 6+ years now. It's also the reality verboten to speak of by the Democrats, because this looks a whole lot like a picture of the ruins of the neoliberal dystopia pushed on the country primarily by slick hucksters like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on behalf of Wall Street.
ReplyDeleteAs Professor Berman has noted, Americans may have karmically earned this ghastly fate, but if they don't understand what they're being punished for, is this comeuppance merely an exercise in sadism?
'The Retail Carrion Feeders of Rural America':
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/11/25/the-retail-carrion-feeders-of-rural-america/
Vietnam among top destinations for American retirees
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/ampe.vnexpress.net/news/travel/vietnam-among-top-destinations-for-american-retirees-4492844.html
America bombarded Vietnam nonstop and practically destroyed the country. The resolute Vietnamese rebuilt their nation after 50 years, and now Americans are "retiring to Vietnam for cheap healthcare and a reasonable level of living". Just stealing the hard earned advantages of an actual society..
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteA friend visited Chicago over the TG holiday and sent me a picture of a church's weekly schedule. Schedule copied below:
Evenings at 7 In the Parish Hall:
Mon: Alcoholics Anonymous
Tue: Abused spouses
Wed: Eating disorders
Thu: Say no to drugs
Fri: Teen suicide watch
Sat: Soup Kitchen
Sunday Sermon at 9 AM: "America's Joyous Future"
Himanshu
Another brilliant video documenting how the war in Ukraine is is a fine example of how the American Empire is ending.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/s47elUKUZdk
I read the blog everyday but don't often comment anymore because it just seems so obvious how everything is coming to an end in your country. As a Canadian from the north I am amazed and chilled at what I read here everyday.
Anjin-
ReplyDeleteWhen the US finally collapses, 80% of the planet's population will be dancing in the streets. Given what we are, and the misery we cause, the collapse is a good thing, and most of the planet's 8 billion will hardly mourn our passing. Hence, this blog's motto: Bad Is Good. Jimmy is rt abt military overstretch; I outlined other factors in the Twilight bk, 22 yrs ago. But anyone who waves a cautionary red flag is marginalized, ignored, or trashed by the NYT. We are digging our own grave w/a zeal that is impressive. Meanwhile, 99% of the American population is steeped in cluelessness and buffoonery.
Himan-
Well, at least they're handing out soup. Sermon, however, needs new title: Heads Wedged in Rumps.
mb
A Florida Man might be just the effective authoritarian with the right credentials to seize the declinist political chalice from Trumpi and fulfill America’s destiny. The shadowy military background of DeSantis, which includes roles as a legal “advisor” at Guantanamo and in the Special Operations Task Force during U.S. efforts to suppress resistance to occupation (“out-terrorize the terrorists”) in Fallujah, Iraq in 2007 as Senior Legal Advisor to the commander, suggests he would be well qualified as a Presidential candidate sympathetic to the Deep State. An interesting video provides background, and includes some election clips from his campaigns for Florida governor:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?y=FFonj6onj6o0fTl&t=70s
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
ReplyDeleteGunshots at: a children’s parade; a funeral for a teen gun violence victim; an upscale shopping district in a new hotspot for mass shootings—Atlanta, Georgia; and of course a result of road rage:
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/11/26/Dayton-Childrens-Parade-Gunshot/8881669488708/
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/11/26/2-people-injured-drive-by-shooting-funeral-nashville/6571669515924/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/26/us/atlanta-shooting-atlantic-station-saturday/index.html
https://wtop.com/dc/2022/11/road-rage-suspect-shoots-metrobus-in-southeast-dc/
The action is hot and heavy here in this dysfunctional piece of shit country.
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Dr. Berman—
ReplyDeleteIn concert with Jimmy Dore's "This Is How America Ends" video Anjin-san posted, Neil Oliver is voicing what millions of EU/NATO citizens must be feeling as Winter approaches and the US sanctions on Russia, along with the US gas industry and their corrupt leaders, rush them headlong into "Net Zero" and energy poverty by force.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMlH7IbVpxc
As Anthony Blinken says, "it's an opportunity!" With friends like these...
I saw this weeks ago and am still sick. It has been happening for a decade. Tell your child you ate his Halloween candy. I know the cruelty is the point, but people think this is funny!?
ReplyDeleteThe traits parents demonstrated: 1. Lie 2. Steal. 3. Be a glutton. 4. Record the look of shocked betrayal on your toxic phone. 5. Exploit your child hoping *your* little project gets on TV and YouTube.
And this year Jimmy Kimmel did it to his own children.
Pure Devastation: Kids, Once Again, Freak Out Over Jimmy Kimmel’s Halloween Candy Prank
Rose-
ReplyDeleteBut this is, in fact, what America is all about, at its core. This too:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/us/russian-activists-asylum.html
Finally, let us replace IN GOD WE TRUST on legal tender with the far more accurate TRASHY, VILE, AND DESTRUCTIVE.
mb
And this as well:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/nyregion/connecticut-police-officers-charged.html
Sir Farts-
ReplyDeleteI guess you don't understand how this blog works. I certainly believe what you say abt American dysfunction, but where is your evidence to back it up? We need links, reliable references. Pls re-post, but this time add the exact citations. Thank you.
mb
Hi Dr. B,
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the US Supreme Court is clearing the runway for new and better types of corruption at the state level. As a New Yorker, I am appalled by how the federal courts are messing with New York's gun laws, corruption convictions, etc. Each one of these decisions makes me wonder what value the federal government provides to the states.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/us/politics/supreme-court-corruption-cuomo.html?smid=em-share
https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-crime-new-york-buffalo-andrew-cuomo-23462d021b122c96abf7c29b5cda61f8
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/New-York-gun-laws-to-face-court-challenge-17290210.php
Mike-
ReplyDeleteA tiny % of the US population understands that America has gone to hell in a basket--on every level, and w/every institution. That's why I keep wondering if I shd close down the blog. What is there left to say now? It's all over but the shouting. Which is true regardless of who is elected in 2024.
mb
My vote is to keep the blog going. Sure it's pointless to expect or even hope America might ever change for the better. No, not one iota of improvement is on the horizon in the near or long term. As declinists, however, what we should actually be asking ourselves is, "how low America can sink?"
ReplyDeleteAh, now that is a question only sticking around can answer!
Sure, it seems impossible for the place to get any more degraded, debased, violent, idiotic, destructive, toxic, buffoonish, or douchey, but just you wait and see! America always has, and always will, sink lower. As long as there remains an America to sink.
The US has already seen more than 600 mass shootings in 2022 — nearly double the number just 5 years ago:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/the-us-has-already-seen-more-than-600-mass-shootings-in-2022-e2-80-94-nearly-double-the-number-just-5-years-ago/ar-AA14w4Op
Bonus classic link! Highly amusing podcast chat between Dmitry Orlov and James Howard Kunstler from way back in 2013. Even more relevant today:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/kunstlercast-suburban-sprawl-a-tragic-comedy/id273772632?i=1000143701069
Politicians lie.
ReplyDeleteArt tells the truth.
I was at this show in 1996. I wouldn't expect a sane person to watch the entire thing, but the first 3 minutes are gutting. It's an acoustic song called 'Suicide Note Pt. 1' where the lead singer fantasizes about cutting his wrists. The pain is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
Yeah, nice country we built for ourselves here.
https://youtu.be/cLaxvdj7M2M
cube-
ReplyDeletePls note that we are a discussion forum, not a bulletin board. Thank you.
Pol-
We also need to talk abt what may lie on the other side of the collapse. E.g., secession.
mb
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/29/oath-keepers-militia-founder-stewart-rhodes-seditious-conspiracy
ReplyDeleteJust look at this guy's face. America epitomized.
Right now I’m trying to figure out whether Biden or Trump leads to more decline. It’s a tie, doesn’t seem to matter as those in charge are focusing on trivial stuff and making the wrong decisions on things that matter.
ReplyDeletehttps://popular.info/p/railroading-workers
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/28/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-averting-a-rail-shutdown/
https://www.juancole.com/2022/11/parasitic-private-consuming.html
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/3752198-white-house-looks-to-tell-great-story-of-america-with-holiday-decor/
Because right now decor matters, Right…
Flab-
ReplyDeleteThis is a good question. The problem with Biden in 2024 is that he really is a warmonger, with respect to Russia and/or China. He's unconsciously playing out the old "negative identity" paradigm that I outlined in QOV. That old paradigm is the puppet master, and clueless as he is, he's dancing to its tune. Other than that, his presidency, esp. now as lame duck, but probably beyond 2024 if he's reelected, will be boring as a stale turd. All it will amount to is the continued, relentless disintegration of the US.
Trumpi, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be a warmonger, but his rule wd be ugly, one of semi-fascism, white supremacy, hatred of any Other, and so on. He is both gross and grotesque. If he wins, it would mean faster disintegration, but every day would be more vomit-provoking than the previous one. Really, I shudder to think of it.
All in all, a no-win situation for America, but then the US entered the no-win zone decades ago. I confess, perhaps only out of a sense of humor, the person I'd like to see in the W.H. is Kamala. I mean this seriously. A Schmamala presidency would leave us all in stitches. Her credentials as a buffoonette are beyond question, and this sad nation cd surely use a gd laugh. Whenever she's asked a question to wh/she doesn't know the answer--i.e., 100% of the time--she comes out w/her ridiculous laugh. Well, it wd be wonderful if we cd just laugh along w/her, or rather at her: ha ha, the president is a dope.
mb
ps: Across the US, the stats of degradation widen and deepen. Guaranteed, that it will get worse.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-29/fentanyl-deaths-in-l-a-county-soared-1-280-between-2016-and-2021-report-finds
And between 2021 and 2026? And 2026 to 2031?
ps2: Even more degradation:
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/29/entertainment/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-divorce/index.html#:~:text=Per%20the%20agreement%2C%20a%20draft,Kardashian%20and%20West%20for%20comment.
Note Kanye's horse face. These people are heroes to millions of Americans. Brr.
ps3:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/29/gun-death-rates-highest-levels-00071285
Very exciting news for declinists everywhere!
ReplyDeleteTrump 2.0 Could Destroy America as We Know It:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/11/30/trump-2-0-could-destroy-america-as-we-know-it/
Americans are choosing to be alone. Here’s why we should reverse that.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/23/americans-alone-thanksgiving-friends/
There is a strong chance that this graph is a core reason for America's surge of anxiety and depression, a part of a more general spiritual death
Time spent with other people has plummeted—for every age group, ethnicity, gender, geography, and income level.
Proof in "Bowling Alone" by R Putnam's pudding....
Pol-
ReplyDeleteImpt essay, but we are not a bulletin board. Pls re-send link, and add a para of yr own commentary. Thanks.
Doc-
Tricky problem. Americans correctly realize that Americans are douche bags, and they don't wanna hang out w/douche bags; to their credit. What each of them fails to realize is that s/he is *also* a douche bag. What to do? It's like a Moebius strip.
mb
For a discussion published about a week ago with John Mearsheimer and Isaac Chotiner.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/john-mearsheimer-on-putins-ambitions-after-nine-months-of-war
I came away thinking that Mearsheimer knows what he's talking about and the reporter from the New Yorker thinks he knows what he's talking about. Chotiner comes off like a bloated jackass.
Mearsheimer's imparting wisdom that the West will ignore is that we should be working quickly towards a peace agreement to keep the human cost low. The US-led NATO seems to just want to keep escalating and sending weapons for Ukrainians to kill Russians. Madness... KAMALA SCHMAMALA!
run-
ReplyDeletePls note: we are basically a discussion forum, not a bulletin board. Why not expand your point to Doc in a paragraph? Links documenting American idiocy wd also be helpful. Thank you.
Krak-
I'm amazed that the New Yorker was willing to let Mearsheimer air his views. The mag poses as hip, sensitive, etc.; the reality is that it supported our destruction of Iraq in 2003. (Most people don't know this.) Now, they vigorously support the war in the Ukraine, America, NATO, etc. Hip my ass; it's all party line. Time for them to do a 10-page feature on Kamala (our future president, I hope).
mb
This is probably the most bullshit title you'll ever read...
ReplyDeletehttps://confidentials.com/body/the-stigma-of-being-naturally-thin
A title like this can only fly in a nation of insecure lardasses, who don't have the self-control to curb their bad habits. I'm naturally thin, & I make no apologies for it. Other folk's insecurities aren't my problem.
Amerikkka coulda been a worthwhile experiment. That ship sailed long ago, however
Fly-
ReplyDeleteYes, just more American stupidity; but note that obesity is now regarded as having multiple causes. It's not merely the result of overeating, and 'self-control' has proven to never work (recidivism from dieting is around 97%). What all this hasta do w/collapse of American empire, I'm not really sure. But as for the failed American experiment: I once read a quote that said, "If instead of the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, the Rock had landed on them, it wd have been better for all concerned."
mb
Doctor & Wafers,
ReplyDeleteIs this actually a good idea? Killer robots wiping out USAins instead of themselves killing each other? The numbers wouldn’t “add up” while contributing to this wasteland’s demise. But maybe some bully authoritarian psycho cop ( a la retired Sergeant Charles Langley of the Mesa Police Dept.) could program one to mass shoot folks away. Police robots would have the “qualified immunity” since they’re only automatons.
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/28/1139523832/san-francisco-considers-allowing-law-enforcement-robots-to-use-lethal-force
On a fun note, Kyle Rittenhouse, our AR15-toting conservative high school dropout/Marjorie Taylor Greene sponsored acolyte, is in the hustle game. Ya gotta admit: There’s no end to making a few bucks here in this amoral headquarters of capitalism. The creativity is astounding; it never ceases to amaze.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kyle-rittenhouse-video-game_n_6380657ce4b006c42d3d1839
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Dr, Berman—
ReplyDeleteNYC Mayor Eric Adams decided to involuntarily hospitalize the mentally ill, specifically those who are homeless. Never mind that becoming homeless, due to increased unemployment and unaffordable housing, causes mental illness. We need quick fixes for problems rooted in a society of brainwashed consumers and aspiring hustlers as living standards tank.
https://gothamist.com/news/adams-nyc-directs-first-responders-to-involuntarily-transport-mentally-ill-to-hospitals
There is a silver lining: more profits for healthcare corporations from the disaster that is America. As the mental health crisis grows, so do health insurer behavioral health provider networks:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2022/12/01/unitedhealth-and-rival-insurers-expanding-behavioral-health-provider-networks/?sh=2656ec044672
And remember to use the term "unhoused", not the unpleasant "homeless".
A guy by the name of Tom on "Reminiscence of the Future..." blog http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletewrote in the comments:
"As the sociologist Georg Simmel wrote over a century ago, if you make money the center of your value system, then finally you have no value system, because money is not a value".
– Morris Berman, “The Moral Order”, Counterpunch 8-10
February 2013. http://www.counterpunch.org...
Always nice to see our GSWH get some exposure.
Joe, comrade-
ReplyDeleteDo you realize the amt of slapping that wd be necessary, just to get Americans to be half-decent human beings? It makes me dizzy just to think of it. And this is not including the urine component of the Wafer Slapping-Urine Program (WSUP).
Mr. Oops-
Eric Adams is not a true American. A true American mayor wd have ordered the NYPD to gun down the homeless and the mentally ill in the streets, like dogs. I'm actually ashamed of the guy.
mb
Thank you for keeping the blog open. It’s a lifeline.
ReplyDeleteIn honor of Buy Nothing Week, Wafers may wish to spin the Age of Uranus.
“Europe accuses US of profiting from war: EU officials attack Joe Biden over sky-high gas prices, weapons sales and trade,” Politico, Thanksgiving, November 24, 2022
“Cracking open ‘The Nutcracker’s’ dark Russian past: Behind the holiday classic lies an unsavory history that may change the way you think about it,” The Washington Post, Black Friday, November 25, 2022
“We need an enemy!”
k-
ReplyDeleteThat's a great cut. Goes to the heart of it, n'est-ce pas? How is it that only a few hundred Americans see this?
mb
Tis the season for increased pill poppin'! Big Pharma is the usual benefactor of the drug pushing for something called Seasonal Affective Disorder.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.news10.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/603260555/holiday-season-increases-sad-market-fueling-a-544-million-treatment-industry/
The holidays are only hectic because ppl make it so. I REFUSE to participate in all that craziness. The icing on the cake is this pathetic op-ed piece from last yr, where the author declared she's grateful for mind-numbing drugs. If ppl stopped & smell the roses, then they wouldn't feel the need to take various pills
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/12/25/2069606/-This-holiday-season-I-m-grateful-for-antidepressants
Hold the presses everyone!
ReplyDeleteForget global warming. Forget the ongoing wars. Forget the recession, droughts, etc.
This just in. Florida woman sues Kraft for misrepresenting the preparation time for macaroni and cheese.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63825860
Someone give this woman the red pill.
Peace,
Vince
Vince-
ReplyDeleteThis is certainly impt news, but it pales in comparison to the comings and goings of Kim, Kanye, and of course Gisele Bundchen. I have a vision of Kamala entering the W.H. in Jan. of 2025, flanked by Tulsi and Gisele.
mb
Tulsi playing second fiddle to Kamala? Dr, you've got to be kidding! On the other hand it's the perfect ploy to poke deep into a racist area of MAGAs' reptile brain and cause more division and hatred amongst an easily manipulated populace.
ReplyDeleteAnd wtf is up with the idea that Biden is remotely capable of running in 2024? (insert random msm link here) Drooling in a wheelchair was okay for Stephen Hawking but a President? I'd put money on Ukraine taking Crimea before I'd chance a quarter on Schmiden.
Btw, how's the fishing going, or are you more of a sunset on the plaza kinda guy? I like watching the container ships spin on their anchors on the Columbia River estuary.
comrade-
ReplyDeleteNote that I am almost finished w/my 5-vol. study, "Foundations of Tulsic Thought." Jack L. and I will present it at Evergreen College next week. Kamala might attend. Kanye will be there, wearing a T-shirt that says
DEATH TO THE JEWS!
Biden will run in 2024. He recently foned me to ask if I thought he shd replace Kamala w/Gisele Bundchen. Only if she's fucking Kanye, I told him.
mb
Dr. Berman occasionally asks out loud:
ReplyDelete"How much slapping does the average American need?"
Fear not, my fellow WAFers. I have boldly ventured into the prolapsed colon of American culture and found the turd of truth we all seek on this board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suJ6pqq--2c
Lest you think this was a product of its time, please note that it's now a professional sport here in America:
It's called the Power Slap League.
Dr. B.: I wouldn't shut down the blog but I think all we have is comedy at least for a while. Right now I'm trying to decide on which of these is the best quote of 2022:
ReplyDelete"They stole the Electron from Blake Masters. Do Election over again!" -- Donald J. Trump, former President of the United States (https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=2kLGH0Hz8mY)
"Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler." -- Kanye West a.k.a. Ye (https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=VE-F_hTy52E)
Torreblanca
Torre-
ReplyDeleteAlso: "I'm getting divorced!"--Gisele Bundchen
Xen-
This video pegs quite accurately the level of intelligence of the American people. Now, all we need to add to this is a Urine Drench League.
mb
ps: Here's something that's *not* funny: check out this woman's face. Is this not America in a nutshell?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/connecticut-socialite-hadley-palmer-sentenced-year-in-jail-voyeurism/
V. gd essay on indigenous history in America in the New Yorker for Nov. 14. Interesting radical revisionism.
ReplyDeleteThe holidays are prime time for Amerikkkans to satisfy 1 of their most prominent addictions. Trouble is, they're now worried about their X-mas budgets, and finding "meaningful" presents. Boo hoo hoo!
ReplyDeletehttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/shutterfly-finds-americans-concerned-holiday-154000652.html
As far as "meaningful" gifts go, I think an alternative would be to make their own gifts or buy from an artisan. But the majority feel they gotta splurge on corporate crap that'll just be forgotten post-Christmas anyway.
Satchmo-
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent argument for slapping (w/a side of urine).
mb
ps: relevant to that subject, check out 2nd story in my bk "The Heart of the Matter."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/02/musk-leak-twitter-hunter-biden-files-00072015
ReplyDeleteThis may be the start of something big. I even heard people speaking of a new Watergate, or maybe not, americans are dumber and less politically engaged than they were in Nixon's time. Anyways, this may be undoing of Biden and the return of Trump after the GOP loss.
Dear Dr. Berman and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteRespectfully seek some input; apologise if this has already been addressed on the blog.
We are counting down our days in the world's premier shithole.
How does one respond to non-USian natives/locals if all they want to do is talk "positively" abt the US, bring up US politics endlessly, introduce you to other USians, present US celeb "culture" from magazines, etc.?
We want to start anew and not be 'bogged' down by delusional memoirs, and folks waxing poetic re: the world's shit hole. We wish to divorce ourselves from a toxic relationship (the US empire) and move on--not re-live horrible experiences and vile "culture."
How does one substantially distance themselves from the US empire w/o appearing aloof, elitist, etc.?
Thank you.
Hi Dr. Berman and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI haven't posted here in quite some time but I read with glee all the comments. Or at least try to.
We now have a Yale history professor raising money for weapons and drones for Ukraine. As if our billions in tax dollars to help kill Ukrainians under the guise of helping them weren't enough.
https://u24.gov.ua/shahedhunter?fbclid=IwAR3rDzT0wiOnblDBuDJ7s6fsY_YypCd3JJ2D7gb6Rr98uWPHo7rCnBzVKUE
What next?
JUS
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteSome new data related to colonial history (last 200 years): A new study by Dylan Sullivan and Jason Hickel with Australian, Spanish and UK universities argues British Colonialism killed 100 million Indians.The study notes 'this is more than WW1 & WW2 including the Nazi holocaust.'
https://twitter.com/subhash_kak/status/1598846506949259265
Note: Historian Will Durant and a few others have documented that at least 80 million Hindus were killed during Islamic rule.
I am guessing that as the anglosphere(US, UK, Australia) declines and collapses more such data and research that was suppressed will come out. The angloshphere has been taking the moral high round since at least WW2 but going forward that will be challenged. Also the Eurocentric narrative that science and math originated there are also being challenged by scholarly books such as this one released couple weeks ago: https://garudabooks.com/the-imperishable-seed
Summary: Students of mathematics learn of “Pascal’s Triangle”, “Fibonacci Sequence”, “Rolle’s Theorem” and “Taylor Series.” But they do not learn that these concepts were expounded much earlier than their supposed discoveries in Europe by Indian mathematicians such as Pingala, Hemachandra, Bhaskara and Madhava. Many of the fields of mathematics today— from the decimal numbers and simple arithmetic to algebra, trigonometry, and even calculus—were developed by Hindu mathematicians or owe their origins to their works. In The Imperishable Seed, Prof. Bhaskar Kamble assembles compelling evidence to show how this knowledge was created and transmitted to the rest of the world.
Himanshu
Pressed-
ReplyDeleteWe tend to be more of a discussion forum than a bulletin board. Perhaps you cd re-send that link, and add a para of your own commentary. Thank you.
JUS-
America has many, many hi-IQ douche bags.
Glans-
Easy: hit the road. BTW, I'm aloof and elitist and quite proud of it. I also recommend walking around w/a sign that says KAMALA SCHMAMALA; a guaranteed conversation-starter.
mb
ps: or perhaps, EMBRACE TULSISM
ReplyDeleteNote that I will be coming north in 2024 to work on Gisele Bundchen's presidential campaign.
I was unaware that Tina Turner renounced her Amerikkkan citizenship in 2013 & opted for a Swiss one. https://fox2now.com/news/tina-turner-renounces-us-citizenship/
ReplyDeleteShe'd been living there since about 1995 & apparently loved it, as per this quote:
"I’m very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here.” “I cannot imagine a better place to live.”
Tina had the right idea, but most Amerikkkans would consider this statement blasphemy. 'Cause what better place is there to live than Amerikkka, with all its fat ignorant ppl, random shootings & abysmal sick-care system?
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteIn this two part article (I encourage all to read them) from Hindu University of America, the author tries to address the problem of gun violence in the US through the lens of Hindu Dharma (not Hinduism which is one of many “ism” concocted by Western academics and Christians/Abrahamics. Another eg is Buddhism which is actually Buddha Dharma). Excerpts:” What does Hindu Dharma have anything to do with domestic gun violence that the USA is witnessing all too frequently? What does it have to say about ownership and use of guns or any weapons for that matter? In this sequence of two articles, we will examine this issue through the lens of Hindu Dharma. “
https://blog.hua.edu/blog/gun-violence-dharma-i
https://blog.hua.edu/blog/gun-violence-dharma-iii
The first part is an overview of the 2nd amendment, gun violence statistics, gun sales, contrast with Indian situation and the Dharma of Violence. The second part looks at the current discourse around gun “rights” and how it has lost direction and cannot offer solutions. The author proposes solutions after examining how “Adharma” rises, defines Dharma and examines the conflict between Vaishya Dharma(trader, businessman) and Kshatriya Dharma (warrior, law enforcement, security, defense) in the US. Note: The author acknowledges that the US is in an irreversible decline.
Himanshu
Cherith-
ReplyDeleteWe're more of a discussion forum than a bulletin board. Perhaps you cd re-send your link, while adding a para of yr own commentary. Thanks.
Fly-
Tina is one of the few Americans w/half a brain. Imagine being surrounded by intelligent people you can talk to, rather than by violent imbeciles w/o 2 thoughts to rub together.
mb
Kito-
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck; throw caution to the winds!
mb
IPhone prices have gotten so steep that hordes of empty souls are willing to go into debt, for the chance @ owning a device that'll just be passé anyway. Planned obsolescence, yo!
ReplyDeletehttps://due.com/blog/iphone-worth-debt/
But it seems that the party's almost over, as the NY post says:
"Wake up, America. That ticking sound you’re hearing is the American debt time bomb that with each passing day is getting precariously close to detonating and crashing the US economy. Businesses, consumers and especially the federal and state governments have become hooked on red ink as if it were cocaine."
That quote about being "hooked on red ink" is on pt. Remember when folks used to SAVE for things they wanted? I suspect this instant gratification stuff will eventually be Amerikkka's downfall
https://nypost.com/2022/12/04/americas-ticking-time-bomb-66-trillion-in-debt-that-could-crash-the-economy/
ReplyDeleteDoctor and Wafers,
I have a suggestion. We can post a daily mugshot of your typical ugly violent USAin. For starters, here’s one I saw today in the news. As this wasteland of a country goes slowly and inexorably down the shitter, we can see the faces.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/12/05/Josephy-Kennedy-charged-cyclists-murder/2041670293137/
p.s. Doctor,
I don’t recall exactly. But I read some time ago of you noticing the differences of European visages from USAin visages. You said it was like night and day.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteRe: your ps: It's in an essay in "Are We There Yet?" called "In Praise of Shadows." As for mugshots, the one in your link is that of a True American. And we wonder why Tina Turner hit the road for Switzerland.
octagon-
Well we are, in fact, talking abt buffoons, after all.
mb
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteBook recommendation for Wafers and NMIs: Matter and Mind: The Vaisheshika Sutra of Kanada by Prof. Subhash Kak:
https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Mind-Vaisheshika-Sutra-Kanada/dp/1988207134/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9YQT7SDTZY4G&keywords=matter+and+mind+subhash+kak&qid=1670357129&sprefix=matter+and+mind+subhash+kak%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1
Summary: Matter and Mind is a new translation of the nearly 2,500-year old Vaisheshika Sutra of Kanada together with an introductory essay and a commentary. The Vaisheshika Sutra is one of the most important texts in the history of science that has not received the attention it deserves. It presents an ontology of reality that includes four kinds of fundamental atoms, two of which have mass and two that do not, as well as minds and consciousness. It also presents symmetry principles that it uses to infer properties of the basic atoms. Kanada's laws of motion are nearly identical to those of Newton.
An Indic renaissance is slowly and quietly beginning to blossom. Lots of avenues for NMIs to explore in this sphere (provided one is willing to learn Sanskrit).
Himanshu
Himan-
ReplyDeleteSomething we've talked abt b4: I understand your passion is for India and Indian philosophy, but that is not the focus of this blog, and I doubt any of our participants are following up on your suggestions. I have to ask you to stay w/in a very narrow focus: the collapse of the American empire. Filtering everything thru India does not serve our interests, imo, and ultimately, I don't think it will serve yours. Thank you for your cooperation. (You might check out other blogs, ones that share your intellectual focus.)
Wafers-
Regarding climate chg: I don't see that there is anything more to discuss, really. Thanks to the American Dream and its value-system, we managed to destroy the planet, and all of these stupid climate conferences amt to 0--have amounted to 0, and will amt to 0. It all boils down to that famous line from W.H. Auden's "Age of Anxiety": "We wd rather be ruined than changed." Bottom line: we are playing out a certain self-destructive narrative that I have been analyzing and criticizing for years now, and somehow, for most Americans and those people (e.g., the Chinese) who think life is abt economic and technological expansion, serious change (e.g. to de-growth) is not an option. The handwriting is on the wall; it cdn't be any clearer. It's all over but the shouting.
mb
Call me crazy, but I feel there has been a lurch downward over the past few days. Perhaps I’ve just had enough and need to take my meager savings somewhere else in the world, but:https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1600164210121461768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1600164210121461768%7Ctwgr%5E70a35708e414ac9e00fe191bdcb86ba9e346d4ac%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nakedcapitalism.com%2F2022%2F12%2F200pm-water-cooler-12-7-2022.html
ReplyDeleteAnd: https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/12/us-gives-up-on-crimea.html
It feels more chaotic here than it did even a few weeks ago. Is the zeitgeist changing as the US gives up on a military goal (aiding Ukraine in retaking Crimea? Is it an admission of failure of empire twice in a single year, the first being in Afghanistan?
Add in the crazy assault on the power grid in the south.
Flab-
ReplyDeleteYou raise an interesting pt; I don't think we'll know if yr rt abt a shift in military policy for a while yet. I'm also not sure abt any 'downward lurch' during the past few days. But my general take is that America is drifting; no one in power has a grip on why that is so, or what the basic causes are. (They cd read my trilogy on the decline of the empire, but that will happen when pigs fly.) Beating off seems to be the order of the day, and in addition: America and American events seem to have become pretty boring. The war in the Ukraine has become boring. Kanye West, who is mentally ill, is boring. Kamala Schmamala is extremely boring, along w/Gisele Bundchen, Kim, and MT Greene. Yawn city. Who gives a shit abt any of this? Less than 3% pts separated Warnock from Walker, and that says much abt where America is at, given the fact that Walker was a joke. We now face 2 lame duck yrs; things will get interesting if Trumpi wins in 2024, but interesting in awful and disgusting ways. All in all, we are fading from the world picture; and as we constitute 4.5% of the world's population, what diff does it make? Things of interest and importance are happening all over the planet, and any American who can escape and chooses not to is certifiably brain-dead. And speaking of boring: have you talked to an American lately? Their focus is the latest app, and other crucial issues of the day.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteThe Dems have 6 wks left in wh/they control both houses of Congress. As of Jan. 20 (I guess), control of the House of Rep passes to the GOP. I'm taking a poll: What do you guys think the Dems will do in their final 6 wks of control?
a) Pass bold, powerful, and courageous legislation regarding climate change, distribution of wealth, and a host of other issues crucial to America's future
b) Beat off
U tell me.
mb
(Duh)
Dr. B,
ReplyDeleteI'm seeking your input on something. Do you remember the phenomenon when Obummer was chosen (by the corporate masters), that most Amerikkkans looked to him as a savior figure? @ least 95% was overcome by the empty rhetoric that he was going to change anything. My question is, do you think the tendency to seek saviors is an Amerikkkan thing, or something inherent to human nature?
Da-
ReplyDeleteIt can't be inherent, because hunter-gatherers didn't do it. For them, the aliveness of the natural environment was enuf. As for human beings in 'civilization', check out the Grand Inquisitor section of The Brothers Karamazov.
Of course, Americans are esp. gullible. Hi IQ counts for nothing. When the douchebag got elected, Bob Kuttner and (if I remember correctly) Slavoj Zizek announced that this was 'transformative'. Yeah, my ass. A pair of dummies, really. At the very same time, I was writing that the douchebag was in effect the funeral director at the wake of a dying country--which proved to be correct.
mb
ps: on the world of hunter-gatherers, check out my bk "Wandering God."
ReplyDeleteIn response to MB’s question about the next six weeks, I submit the following lyrics, done of course to the late Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”:
ReplyDeleteWafers told him, “Don’t ever come ‘round here”
“Don’t wanna see those Dems, they better disappear”
The fix’s in their eyes and their words no reverse gear
So beat it, just beat it
You should resign, you’re a loser times ten
But don’t wanna see Kamala, she’s a nothing woman
You wanna be tough, next move on Iran
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it (beat it) beat it (beat it)
Europe wants to be defeated
Showin’ how strong Kiev is without light
It doesn’t matter how many Uke’s die tonight
Just beat it (beat it)
[repeat three times]
We’re out to get you, so beat while you can
Don’t look now, but Trumpi wanna be da man
You wanna look tall, so do only what you can
So beat it, just beat it
Flabster -
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't read too much into Blinken's comments.
What are the real and US objectives here? I would say a show of strength, but this has to be pursued differently than the infamous and now discredited LeDeen doctrine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ledeen] which resulted in the disastrous Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The more forward-thinking and progressive Biden admin merely seeks to deter Russia [and by extension China] by demonstrating that it can and will back a proxy in their own backyard. And its only mildly financially ruinous, at least compared to the US deployments in the Mideast.
All that's a short way of saying, the US would be more than happy to quit while its ahead, regardless of its stated Crimea policy. However, it's pretty safe to say that Putin is unlikely to want to quite while he's behind.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who keeps Dr. Berman's blog going.
ReplyDeleteI've been going through an INCREDIBLY rough time lately. We all acknowledge the sickness of American society on this blog. It doesn't make it any easier when you have to deal with it face-to-face.
In my core, I believe in the values of kindness, compassion, and temperance. It's nausea inducing when one realizes that these traits only draw contempt from the vicious American public (and in corporate America in particular).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DczunJjH47U
I have a broken heart tonight, but I do take some comfort from all of you. I'll never meet any of you in person, but you've all made my life just a little bit better.
Dr octagon: I posted this in the last thread, but the federal government is not like a household so you should take that article with a big grain of salt. Please see _Seven Deadly Innocent Frauds of Economic Policy_ by Warren Mosler for explanation of this:
ReplyDeletehttp://moslereconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Seven-Deadly-Innocent-Frauds-of-Warren-Mosler.pdf
Xenakis: Sorry to hear you are going through a rough time, and glad you find comfort in others here.
Xen-
ReplyDeleteThank you for your appreciation of this blog, its participants, and for your heartfelt sharing of your situation. The following might help, a bit (maybe not), so let me talk abt it. I'm referring to one of the most successful TV series ever, "The Sopranos." It's unquestionably brilliant, but the question is, What was the source of its fandom, yesterday and (in DVD's) today? I was always pretty sure that the American public loved it for its titillating qualities, its glimpse into the Mafia/criminal underworld. Good theater, in short. But I myself had a different take on what the creator and writer, David Chase, was doing: the unstated premise was that the Mafia was little more than all of America in microcosm; that it was the synecdoche or epitome of the entire country. In short, that it was a left-wing critique, a condemnation of a country ruined by the American dream, neoliberalism, corporate values, out-of-control hustling, and so on. I didn't imagine that 99% of the viewing public saw the show the way I did, however.
In Sept 2021 the NY Times Mag published a long article on the show, in wh/the author (Willy Staley) argued that while the older audience didn't get it, the younger, later generation did. In other words, that the later generation was smart; that it saw what Chase was up to, and it agreed with his perception and analysis, namely, that the show was essentially a parable abt a country in decline. For your reading 'pleasure', I'm going to reproduce some sections of that essay, wh/I think are dynamite, and spot-on. The older generation of viewers saw the series as entertainment; the younger (subsequent) generation saw it as pretty much a horror show. Here goes:
There is an openly left-wing subcurrent within it.
Biederman argued that the show is, at its heart, about the bathetic nature of decline. “Decline not as a romantic, singular, aesthetically breathtaking act of destruction,” he said, but as a humiliating, slow-motion slide down a hill into a puddle of filth. [THREE WORDS THAT SUMMARIZE AMERICA TODAY: PUDDLE OF FILTH]
The show’s depiction of contemporary America as relentlessly banal and hollow is plainly at the core of the current interest in the show, which coincides with an era of crisis across just about every major institution in American life. “The Sopranos” has a persistent focus on the spiritual and moral vacuum at the center of this country. [HOW FUCKING LONG HAVE I BEEN SAYING THIS?]
a show that was so thoroughly pessimistic about this country…
We all have to live this way, in a landscape vandalized by increasingly inane and powerful flows of capital.
What if things had become so selfish and narcissistic in America that even the mob couldn’t take it? “That was the whole thing,” he said. “America was so off the rails that everything that the Mafia had done was nothing compared to what was going on around them.” [GEE, DO YA THINK?]
The Mafia was a parasite on a grubbier economy — one that was more tactile and localized than containerized and algorithmic. It was a grotesque mirror image of the American dream this economy enabled, a perverted form of upward mobility through hard work and enterprise.
[OF COURSE, THERE'S 0 THE LATER GENERATION CAN DO ABT THIS PILE OF SHIT, BUT IF THE AUTHOR IS RT, WE MIGHT TAKE SOME COMFORT IN THE POSSIBILITY THAT THESE 'KIDS' ARE SEEING REALITY FOR WHAT IT IS. (this might have something to do with the escalating suicide rate among American youth]
mb
Hello Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteA sad but true observation concerning the Sopranos.
I used to be a Star Trek and Twilight Zone person myself. Now I find that the current Star Trek is peddling garbage. Now I find that Rod Serling's take on things was more realistic.
Since you have mentioned beating off numerous times in this space, I thought I would post the link to one of Mr. Fish's latest contributions.
https://clowncrack.com/2022/12/06/pole-position/
Peace wherever you can find it.
Vince
Vince-
ReplyDeleteGd cartoon. It does capture the essence of America at this pt. Was there ever a population that was more out of it than ours? I wish Wafers cd form a Positive Soprano Team (PST), and go from door to door, slapping people around and then urinating on their shoes. After which team members wd yell, THINK!, and depart. Hey, a man can dream.
mb
“Americans are a very angry people.” -GSWH
ReplyDeleteYes, Wafers. The GSWH is correct. Their latest anger is over folks driving electric vehicles.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-drivers-say-faced-road-rage-since-buying-electric-cars-2022-12
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RB-ARvWD3mk
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AwL0ash4pPs
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L-SG1E5LdAo
They’re more angry than ever on the roads in general.
https://13wham.com/newsletter-daily/police-drivers-note-increase-in-aggressive-driving-road-rage
p.s. To Wafer Vince: I agree with you on Rod Serling. He had it so right back in 1960. Below would be a good analogy to our good Doctor’s hypothetical example/comparison of USAins to the Japanese sharing a cup of ramen at Fukushima:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcr68frXGs
Further evidence of decline - as America declines, its citizens and military spend more and more in hopes of rescuing it from falling into the shit can.
ReplyDelete1. https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1112/average-cost-of-an-american-christmas.aspx
2. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-backs-sweeping-defense-bill-voting-continues-2022-12-08/
Increasing personal credit (to near record numbers) and leaving Americans and infrastructure dying for want of a few George Washingtons.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteThe sharing ramen incident was not hypothetical; it actually happened. Unlike America, Japan is a group-oriented culture.
mb
Wanna know what a nation in its death throes looks like? I was walking to the post office to mail something, when I noticed a police van blocking off a street around my neck of the woods. Went to ask someone what the fuss was...turns out it was a small march for someone who'd been killed there. Guess how they died? The marchers had signs & all, though I only saw them from the back.
ReplyDeleteTo top it off, I actually heard a hail of shots l8 last nite. You can tell a civilization is on its way out when u can get slaughtered while minding ur own business.
MB: Replying to your point about how we're fucked re the climate issue -- documents were released yesterday showing how Big Oil is working to mislead Americans about climate change. So basically they're bullshitting everyone while they delay the energy crisis.. These industries are never going to change as you said (except in language). Times are bleak!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/oil-companies-doom-global-efforts-climate-change-house-committee-finds-rcna59443
Tina-
ReplyDeleteAs far as climate chg, global warming, and saving the planet: that ship has sailed. All of these manifestos and summit conferences amt to abs. 0. Hi-level beating off. Meanwhile, 2 powerful films on the subject: "The East," and "First Reformed."
Our age has a serious parallel to the end of the Middle Ages, as is clear from Johan Huizinga:
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Johan-Huizinga/dp/0486404439/ref=sr_1_3?crid=12BKN86WUQ95K&keywords=johan+huizinga&qid=1670715767&s=books&sprefix=johan+h%2Cstripbooks%2C2342&sr=1-3
Those folks were similarly depressed, and there was fuck-all they cd do abt it. The fact is, we are crossing a major watershed.
mb
@Joe Mc.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link. Rod Serling had mentioned that one of the reasons that some WWII veterans turned writers were preoccupied with aliens is that they did not recognize the country they had come home to after the war.
May I recommend to my fellow Wafers the movie "The Rover" with Guy Pearce. It was not well received upon its major release. It is a dark story that begs the viewer to listen to what Guy's character has to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChM2icbWo9w
Peace,
Vince
ps: Tina: The 1972 Club of Rome study, "Limits to Growth," predicted ecologi0cal disaster if we didn't chg our ways. It was vilified by leading economists, the MSM, etc. 30 yrs later the author, Donnella Meadows, did an update: turns out, most of the 1972 predictions were correct. Then in 2016 a British parliamentary group did an investigation, leading them to conclude that the 1972 predictions were spot-on. We did 0 in the aftermath of the 1972 report (just kept on raping the environment), 0 in the aftermath of the 2002 update, and 0 in the wake of the British report of 2016. In short, the major nations had ample opportunity to reverse the deadly trajectory, and in every case they chose to beat off. Well, not entirely: there is this, August 2022:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biden-signs-historic-climate-bill-as-scientists-applaud/
I have my doubts as to how much planet-saving this will amt to, but we can at least hope it isn't more cosmetic chg.
mb
Dear Doctor Berman,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this cartoon is appropriate for your blog.
I visit your blog daily and see so many good posts that I feel incapable of adding to.
If it doesn't fit it won't affect my admiration of your work.
This cartoon exemplifies the emphasis that rules short term gains over long term concerns, contributing both to American and world decline.
https://covestreetcapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cncartoons021011-5441-1024x768.jpg
Glenn-
ReplyDeleteThis captures the modus operandi of the Power Elite, for sure. All I can say in response is KAMALA SCHMAMALA!
mb
To continue w MB's riff on the waning middle ages comparison, check out the state of the Arts: The number of people in the creative industries who are from a working class background has fallen by 50% since 1970 to under 8% today. It explains why so little of what we see in the arts is viewed through a genuine every day person lens, and why all art is shit now!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/dec/10/huge-decline-working-class-people-arts-reflects-society
This is one of Michael Moore's best documentaries.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE&t=5052s
I had no idea that the whole "green energy" was such a capitalist scam. People like Al Gore must know this, but they are greatly profiting off of it nonetheless.
Also, at around 49 mins., a Social Psychologist whom the narrator is interviewing, pulls down a copy of "Dark Ages America" and ask the narrator, "Have you ever heard of this?" He hadn't. (It's hard to hear it, I had to listen to it two times.) I wish they would have said more. But still, a very good documentary.
Megan-
ReplyDeleteAl Gore, yes; also Thos Friedman. Bullshit artists all. It's called greenwashing, and there are a # of bks on the subject. As for the Social Psychologist: Sheldon Solomon. I met him at a conference we both spoke at yrs ago, in Ontario. That's how he knew my work. What the whole phenomenon shows is something Herbert Marcuse said yrs ago: that capitalism is so flexible, it can absorb anything, including anti-capitalism. (See also the cartoon posted by Glenn, above.)
mb
ps: Megan: Yrs ago I had a teacher of the Alexander Technique, who once said to me: "People want to change w/o changing." Greenwashing is a gd example of this. De-growth would be the obvious (real) change, but no one--not these pathetic politicos like Gore, not the American public at large--wants to address the root of the problem, wh/is the whole capitalist economy and way of life. Watching Gore deny the obvious in your link is painful; is he a liar or a moron? Can he seriously believe his own self-contradictory shit?
ReplyDeleteAs for Solomon's ref to DAA: Since the Twilight bk, I've been saying that America, and capitalism, are finished. I never get invited to speak in the US; my bk royalties amt to abt 1K a year. Gee, why is that?
Good Morning Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI give you Bill Hicks on marketing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHEOGrkhDp0
Michael C. Ruppert documentary: Collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihobiCxOx0k
Listen to what he has to say about oil.
Peace,
Vince
Meg, MB: I saw Solomon spk at Emory University like 6-7 years ago and he brought up your book then too! It was in a Q&A and the question had to do w the relationship w/ death here in the States.
ReplyDeleteI liked his book "The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life"
https://www.amazon.com/Worm-Core-Role-Death-Life/dp/1400067472
Here's a nice article on it by blog favorite John Gray:
Why can’t we stop for death?
The Black Mirror and The Worm at the Core reveal the human obsession with, and denial of, our mortality.
By John Gray
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/09/why-cant-we-stop-death
Star-
ReplyDeleteActually, I think Ernest Becker covered that territory extremely well decades ago. In my own work, I refer to the Void rather than death, but they may amt to the same thing. Check out CTOS.
Vince-
We had a 'Bill Hicks' on this blog a few yrs ago, then he disappeared.
mb